TonkLady's Profile

Reply to telegramsam - It could be one of those weird things where 90% of bites get infected but you only hear about the ones that don\\\'t and I only hear about the ones that do. My bite might have been so bad because of the location. I was bit on the finger down to the bone. And when it started swelling so quickly, I should have known to go to the doc right away but I was stupid and didn\\\'t. It was my first bite. Live and learn. I\\\'ve also been bit twice by my cat. I believe 99% of the time when a person gets bit it\\\'s the person\\\'s fault because the cat is just acting on instinct. Well, it wasn\\\'t my fault. I was sitting perfectly still and my cat bit me while trying to get my house shoes. I thought it was because they were black and fussy and looked like my other cat. That was on the calf. It didn\\\'t get infected like the first time but I went ahead and got antibiotics anyway. I wasn\\\'t taking any more chances. The second time she bit me she was after the house shoes again, this time it was a smooth pink pair. I\\\'ve since stopped wearing house shoes. It\\\'s just too dangerous. :-)

9 Answers  |  Asked By: hellokittyluver   7

Cat bites become infected 90% of the time. Cats mouths do have a lot of bacteria. What makes cat bites so dangerous is they are puncture wounds. That means the bacteria gets pushed deep into your skin. It doesn\\\'t stay on the surface like if you had a scratch. So washing it and putting antibiotic ointment on it most likely will not be enough. It is recommened if you get bit by a cat, you go to the doctor immediately (within a couple of hours) to get antibiotics. I can tell you from personal experience that you DO NOT want to wait to go to the doctor. I was bit on the finger by my sister\\\'s cat during a play session. I decided to wait because I was out of town and had big plans for the day. Well, I got so sick from the infection. My finger swelled and hurt immediately. I decided to suck it up and continue with my plans to go to Six Flags. Have you ever been to Six Flags when you have the flu? That\\\'s what this felt like. I was achy, didn\\\'t feel good. I just wanted to lay down. My finger was swollen and hurt so bad. When I finally went to the doctor 24 hours after the bite, the doctor told me if I had waited any longer he would have had to put me in the hospital with IV antibiotics. He said don\\\'t ever wait to see if it will get infected because there is a 90% chance that it will. Just go to the doctor. My veterinarian backed this up when my cat bit her one day. She was out of the office within 10 minutes to go get antibiotics and a tetanus shot. Another vet had to finish up for her. Based on my experiences, it is unlikely you would lose a limb because you would get too sick too quickly to wait long enough to lose a limb. However, unless it is a severe bite, you won\\\'t have to have 24 hours of antibiotics in the hospital. If you wait to see the doctor, you will have to have 24 hours of antibiotics in the hospital. If you go to the doctor soon after the bite, they should clean it up and send you packing with a prescription, most likely for Augmentin. That is the most common drug prescribed for cat bites.

9 Answers  |  Asked By: hellokittyluver   7

Cats are generally considered adult at one year but from what I\\\'ve read and experienced, a more accurate discription is cats are adolescent from one to two years. They finish growing, fill out and they settle into their personalities.

5 Answers  |  Asked By: leonard freeman   1

Ziggy made some great points. To add to that, my sister has a cat, Benny, with severe food allergies. Before they found the right food he looked like he had a severe case of mange. I\\\'m a strong advocate of EVO and Wellness CORE. If you can afford to try those, I think they would benefit your cat. If that is not an option, spring for Dick Van Patten\\\'s Natural Balance. You can find this food at Petco/Petsmart. The Green Pea and Duck dry food works wonders for Benny. It took a few weeks for him to heal but it was definitely the fix he needed. They also have a limited Ingredient canned food which should work great for your cat as well. I\\\'d actually recommend the Limited Ingredient first as I believe wet food is much healthier than dry food for cats. This food will be a bit more expensive than Purina but the benefits are incredible. First, Purina uses many fillers which do not provide any nutrition for the cats. Natural Balance does not have anywhere near the fillers. That means the cat is getting more healthy stuff from less food. They will eat much less because they will need less to get the nutrion they need. If they eat less, they will poop less and it won\\\'t smell as bad because the quality of the ingredients is higher. Another benefit is an all around healthier cat with fewer visits to the vet. You will need to give the cat several weeks to adjust and know for sure if this new food will work. Like Ziggy said, Kit-N-Kaboodle and Purina One are essentially the same food. Waiting to see if the Purina One will work won\\\'t do any good. You have to switch to a totally different food that is not Purina. There are several ingredients that can cause food allerges. The most common foods are beef, corn, soy, seafood and dairy. It\'s important to totally eliminate these foods from the cat\'s diet if you suspect they are the problem. It\'s also important that absolutely NO table scraps are fed to the cat while you are trying to find the right food. Only feed the food you are testing. If none of the foods Ziggy and I have suggested work, you may have to take your cat to the vet to get a prescription food. Try our suggestions first. I know you said you don\\\'t have the money to take your cat to a vet. If possible he does need to be checked out. The vet may be able to give him something to make him more comfortable while you are seeing which new food will work best for him.

6 Answers  |  Asked By: Fluffy   1971